Hunger Within
by myshipsank
Summary: Santana really wishes they wouldn't get so attached. Quinn wishes Brittany wouldn't go out so late. Brittany wishes Quinn would eat better. And Rachel? Rachel just wants the three of them to stop.
1. Prologue

_Description_: Santana really wishes they wouldn't get so attached. Quinn wishes Brittany wouldn't go out so late. Brittany wishes Quinn would eat better. And Rachel? Rachel just wants the three of them to stop.

Rating: T (for now)

"_**I'm like a lizard. I need something warm beneath me or else I can't digest my food."**_

* * *

**Prologue **

"So that's it? You're just going to walk away from me after that?" the man scoffed in disbelief. Santana was in the middle of putting her shirt back on with her back facing the man lying on his bed still naked.

"Yup," Santana replied simply, now pulling her hair back into a neat ponytail. She had a routine for this. She could get dressed and fully-presentable in under a minute.

"You're going to act like we didn't just do that?" he questioned, becoming incredulous. Santana sent a smirk over her shoulder as she walked toward his door.

"Do what? Have sex? It's really not that big of a deal, so what exactly am I supposed to do about it?" Santana asked, all rhetorical. She heard the man start to protest, but she walked out the door, closing it in the middle of his sentence.

She wondered if he would end up heartbroken. She certainly hoped not, because the heartbroken ones sometimes ended up being… problems. They were the most likely to fall under the delusion that if they begged and tried hard enough that they could get her to come back to them. To start a romance. Santana didn't do romance. She did sex; quite well, she might add. Sex isn't dating, something that she's become rather famous for in her high school.

Santana let out a sigh and walked down the street, wondering if she could even remember the name of the man she'd just slept with.

* * *

"Were you out again?" Quinn asked her sister as she walked in their shared bedroom and flopped down on her bed.

"I was hungry," Brittany defended herself, knowing that Quinn didn't like her going out late at night to get something to eat. She claimed that it wasn't safe, but Brittany was convinced she'd be fine and that Quinn was just being a protective sister. The two of them had always watched out for each other in the frequent absence of their parents.

"Would it be so hard for you to just let me know first?" Quinn pleaded.

Brittany picked at her nails, realizing that she would have to paint them again. She must have chipped them when she was picking out her food or something. "Why? Would you want to eat with me?" she asked sarcastically. "I don't usually like to share my food."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "You know that's not what I meant. I just like to know where you are at night."

Brittany shrugged before rolling off her bed to grab some sleep clothes and toothbrush. She left the room leaving Quinn alone in the room to ponder about her sister's habits. Going out that late- she hadn't gotten back until after one in the morning- could really get Brittany hurt. Quinn knew that better than anyone, but Brittany was convinced that she was just paranoid.

Their mom Judy was out of the country- again. She was in Paris with her most recent boy toy. Quinn couldn't actually remember his name, but he'd been around for all of two weeks before their mom decided the two of them needed some "alone time." Apparently when Brittany and Quinn were in school for seven hours a day plus long cheerleading practices wasn't enough alone time for the woman and in order to feel really alone she needed to be on another continent for three weeks.

When Brittany came back, she slid under the covers and turned so she was facing the wall instead of Quinn's side of the room.

"Really, B? You don't need to pull that shit. You know the only reason I even ask is because I don't want you getting hurt," Quinn said. She waited a good minute before Brittany turned to face her.

"I know. But sometimes I think you're just a little biased," Brittany gave in. Quinn gave her a sort of conflicted smile- it was true. "And I'm worried about you too, you know. I haven't really seen you eat much at all recently."

At that, Quinn's defenses flared up. "My eating habits are absolutely none of your business," she shot back.

Brittany's eyes narrowed. "And mine are?"

"Only because you seem to get hungry at the worst time of day," Quinn fired back. The two of them dissolved into sighs and actually laughed a little. "How many times have we had this fight?"

"Too many. Let's go to sleep- we've got cheer practice tomorrow," Brittany suggested. Quinn nodded and closed her eyes, letting herself go to the dreams of a life where she didn't have to fight with Brittany about those things.

* * *

Santana got back to her house and stretched out on her sofa. She owned a bed, but she found that she rarely actually used it for sleeping much at all. The sofa seemed safer in a way- it wasn't confining like a bed could be. She could get off a sofa at any point and leave without a second thought, but leaving a bed was an event that she already did far too often. She didn't need to do it in her own like crack-shack-like place.

She knew she had to get some sleep for tomorrow; Mondays brought cheerleading practice with possibly the only person with less of a heart than herself- Sue Sylvester. Santana loved the power that came with being a cheerleader, but the actual practices themselves were absolute hell. The only real highlight to those long and hard practices was seeing Quinn and Brittany.

When Quinn and Brittany moved to town the summer before freshman year, Santana recognized something in the two of them instantly. They were like her in ways that she did not yet understand, but she made it her goal to befriend the two blonde sisters in cheer camp. They ruled the school together, and it was exactly as Santana imagined.

The three of them got closer, learning just about everything about one another and naming themselves the Unholy Trinity. Sometimes they were at odds with each other over various issues but mostly because they all had things in common and people that were similar often found themselves in conflict with one another.

Originally Santana had promised herself that she would be independent and aloof in high school after the disasters that middle school had brought her, but she went against her own plans. But, she reasoned, Brittany and Quinn were the exceptions to her self-made rules because they were like her in ways that other people couldn't even begin to understand.

It was with thoughts of the blonde twins that Santana fell asleep with.

* * *

Rachel let out a short puff of air, trying to master her latest breathing exercise. It was much later than her usual bedtime, but her fathers had gone to sleep more than two hours ago and were heavy sleepers, so Rachel was in no danger of being caught. Besides, it's not like she was doing anything bad; she was just practicing her breath control.

Tomorrow would bring Glee practice and she wanted to be able to show off to her peers as much as possible. She did well academically, but she wasn't into any sports or anything that would actually garner her friends or respect, so she attempted to gain both of those through Glee Club. It was partially successful, she reasoned, because she had gained some friends. She considered Kurt, Mercedes, and Tina to be her friends though they did not spend large amounts of time together. They were friendly to her and tolerated her presence, so that was enough. She had failed altogether in gaining respect via Glee Club. If anything, she was targeted even more so as being a loser by being in the club.

Oh well- one day they would be begging for her autograph when she had her EGOT.

She also had met other people through Glee Club. They weren't exactly friends, but they did have interesting interactions with her. Those were the three Cheerios that, for reasons unknown, joined Glee in their sophomore year. Quinn, Santana, and Brittany- three inseparable friends with all the beauty and power any high school kid could ask for.

Rachel wondered why they stooped so low as to join a show choir, but she had to admit that they were good. Not as good as her, but they did have talent nonetheless. Brittany was a phenomenal dancer, probably the best in the group with only Mike as competition in that area and could sing decently. Quinn had a smooth alto voice that was perfect for leading accompaniment parts as well as certain solos and moved really well. Santana had a good leading voice and, like the other two, danced well.

On her worse days, Rachel wondered if those three girls had any flaws.

They didn't exactly use their immense power for good. They were the leading bullies in many respects at McKinley, but they rarely did any of the dirty deeds themselves. No, they were more known for stating an opinion of someone and consequently that person would find themselves covered in slushie by a jock that wanted to get in the Unholy Trinity's good graces.

Rachel shook her head at the futility of it all. It was doubtful that those three would remain in Lima for very much longer, and everyone was trying so hard to impress them. It was their senior year, only a few months left, so the countless attempts of the student body to impress the cheerleaders were pretty much in vain. The blonde sisters and Santana had their tickets out of Ohio- they were talented and good-looking, and she knew that each of them was smart in their own way.

Quinn was the only person in class that managed to out-do Rachel. Santana knew her way around life and the streets. And Brittany knew people like no one else. Brittany might not be the brightest in school- Rachel was fairly certain that she wouldn't be passing any of her classes if Santana and Quinn didn't help her cheat- but she could read people like open books.

She gave up on her breathing exercise as she found that her irritation at the Unholy Trinity was causing an affect on her breathing, and she went to sleep.

* * *

"Hello?" Brittany answered her phone groggily.

"Hey. I just wanted to check in on you two." Brittany recognized the voice as her mother's. She sighed into the phone.

"Mom, it's two in the morning. I was sleeping," Brittany reminded Judy.

"Oh, that's right. I always forget about the time difference. Well, I'll let you sleep… as long as you tell me how you and Quinnie are," her mom said playfully. Brittany smiled, knowing that Quinn would kill their mom for calling her by that nickname.

"We're fine. Quinn got mad at me because I went out late for a snack, but she's asleep now. That's why I'm whispering," Brittany answered.

"Good, I'm glad to hear you're okay. Sleep well," Judy said before hanging up.

Brittany put her cell phone back under her pillow and was just about to close her eyes once again and return to sleeping when she noticed hazel eyes staring at her from across the room.

"She never calls me," Quinn whispered. Brittany swallowed, knowing that while that statement was not altogether true, it almost was. Brittany was usually the one to get any calls from their mother. After last year's events, Quinn and Judy had a bit of a falling out. They'd made up since then, but their bond wasn't nearly as close as it had once been.

"I'm sorry," Brittany whispered back honestly. She wished that everything would be perfect, that they could have a happy little family of three plus whoever their mom was with at the time. But it just didn't work that way and hadn't for a long time. Actually, if Brittany was honest, it really hadn't ever worked that way. "Go to sleep."

Quinn sighed and did just that only to be joined in sleep shortly by her sister. Quinn ignored her growling stomach, knowing that Brittany was right about her eating habits.

* * *

He sat at his desk in the middle of the night, thinking hard about the information that had just been presented to him by the trembling man in front of him.

"And you're sure about her?" he asked the sniveling man. Sometimes he hated the fact that he had to rely on insignificants fools like this for his job.

"Positive," the mess of a man replied.

"Leave," he said coldly. The other man could not be happier to oblige.

That left him alone in his office to stare down at the growing file in front of him with a picture paper clipped to the front of it. A picture of a young Latina girl that he'd been hunting down for three and a half years.

"Santana Lopez… I've found you, _pequeño demonio_," he muttered to himself, stroking the picture lightly. It was about time that he sat that girl down and had a nice long conversation. Or short if she didn't behave.

**A/N: This story is quite obviously very AU and I haven't yet decided just how much of the canon I'm actually working with. In case you didn't catch the details, this is how it stands so far: Quinn and Brittany are sisters with an absentee mom that moved to McKinley before freshman year when they met and befriended Santana. It is set in senior year. Besides that, canon may stay or change.**


	2. Sing It To Me

_Description_: Santana really wishes they wouldn't get so attached. Quinn wishes Brittany wouldn't go out so late. Brittany wishes Quinn would eat better. And Rachel? Rachel just wants the three of them to stop.

"_**I'm like a lizard. I need something warm beneath me or else I can't digest my food."**_

* * *

**Chapter 1: Sing It To Me**

When Rachel walked into Glee club the next day, she was completely set on her song. She'd been planning on singing a song to the three girls that made students' lives hell for a while now, but she'd wanted to pick a specific song that would fit them all. In the end, she'd decided against the idea, instead picking a song that applied specifically to Quinn.

She made this decision because two weeks ago Quinn had broken up with Finn out of the blue and left the boy heartbroken. But no, that wasn't the worst of it- she also submitted unspecified blackmail that had gotten the boy kicked off of the football team. Rachel wasn't exactly friends with Finn, but she did harbor some affection for him and he was her teammate in Glee.

The song applied to all three of the girls, really, but she was going to be singing it mostly to Quinn. She nodded to the guitarist to play the opening chords.

"This whole routine is getting old  
So am I, and so are you  
My reputation lets me know  
I can do whatever I want to  
Though it seems that you believe  
You can do whatever it is you please  
Know before, know before you wind up on your knees  
Don't cry to me no more"

Rachel sung the words while sending glances right at Quinn as well as sending some Brittany and Santana's way. She felt the words in her heart- this wasn't just a performance. It was a message. She was tired of the Unholy Trinity's routine of doing whatever they wanted and getting away with it because people just automatically wanted to please them. The guys all wanted to be with them and the girls either wanted the same or to just be them.

"You like the way that people stare at you  
Now you look so fake,  
just thought that you should know  
And you're all the same,  
and when the curtain drops down  
You'll be replaced by something typical"

When she got to the chorus, she was really belting it out. She knew it was true, that the three of them loved being the center of attention. It was also her belief that if anyone looked past their achingly-good looks they'd find that there was truly nothing extraordinary about the three cheerleaders.

"You set yourself up to be sold  
and that's ok cause that's your role  
Manipulation takes its toll  
What will you do when nobody wants you  
Though it seems that you believe  
You can do whatever it is you please  
Know before, know before you wind up on your knees  
Don't cry to me no more"

Rachel tried to ignore the raised eyebrow she was getting from Quinn in response to the song, but she couldn't help the heat that came to the tips of her ears at that look. It was terrifying because Rachel had seen what had happened to people after receiving that look before. But she couldn't help it- she continued singing. The three of them were the masters of manipulation. The one line that Rachel struggled with was the one about what would happen when no one wanted them anymore. Honestly, Rachel couldn't imagine that ever happening. Sure, when she was feeling particularly vindictive she'd imagine the day when the three of them became old and fat, but it was a struggle.

"You like the way that people stare at you  
Now you look so fake,  
just thought that you should know  
And you're all the same,  
and when the curtain drops down  
You'll be replaced by something typical"

Her return to the chorus was strong and she tried to look more at Santana and Brittany since they weren't staring intensely back at her like Quinn was. Brittany looked curious and Santana looked flat-out bored.

"I know, I've stood so long beside you  
And I know, I should've left you right where I had found you  
I know, I've stood so long beside you  
And I know, I should've left you right where I had found you"

This verse was different to Rachel. She tried to sing it on Finn's behalf, because he was the one who stood beside Quinn and she left him without a hint. But Rachel also felt a sort of personal connection because she'd attempted to befriend the three of them as soon as they joined Glee, but they remained as removed and bitchy as ever.

"You like the way that people stare at you  
Now you look so fake,  
just thought that you should know  
And you're all the same,  
and when the curtain drops down  
You'll be replaced by something typical"

With one final return to the chorus, Rachel finished the song with the final strum of the guitar and headed back to her seat, staring at the ground the whole way there. After staring at three of the most terrifying people throughout an entire song, she couldn't bear to meet their eyes anymore.

"Alright, that was good, Rachel. Does anyone else want to sing anything for the group?" Mr. Shue asked. Rachel had given up on receiving any actual useful criticism from the director of the Glee Club. He said the same thing every time she sang a solo- that it was "good." That's it. Rachel knew she was beyond good, that she had a lot of potential, but she clearly would have to rely on her voice teacher outside of school for any real advice on singing.

* * *

Quinn got the message Rachel was trying to give her loud and clear; she wasn't stupid. Rachel blamed her for breaking Finn's heart and believed her to be a cold-hearted bitch. Well, she wasn't completely wrong. Yes, she was completely to blame for breaking Finn's heart and she could sometimes be a bitch, but breaking up with Finn had nothing to do with maintaining her Ice Queen status. It actually had absolutely nothing to do with status at all. She had been dating Finn for a couple months but she knew it wasn't really working out. Sure, he was being a nice guy or whatever, but she was really only with him because he was easy to control.

So that wasn't exactly the best way to start out when she said she wasn't trying to break his heart for status. But it was true. She wanted to be with someone that she could manipulate without them realizing it because relationships weren't the same to her as they were to everyone else.

She broke up with Finn because he was starting to develop real feelings for her and she couldn't have that happen, not when she didn't return them. She wanted to set him free to see other people, people who would have a chance of loving him back.

So Rachel's song irked her, but she knew where the little diva was coming from. Plus, she couldn't blame Rachel for being angry at her for two reasons- one, she had a feeling the girl liked Finn and wanted to protect him from getting hurt, and two, Quinn had been partially responsible for sorting Rachel into the loser category.

It hadn't been something that she'd planned. When she got to high school with Brittany and met Santana, the three of them made a pact to stick together and rise to the top of the social food chain. That required cutting some people down. Unfortunately for Rachel, she made an easy target. She had two dads and a nose that was slightly larger than average and an extremely motivated personality.

It was actually Quinn who picked her out of the crowd. Each of them picked people from the beginning, a lot of people who, incidentally, ended up being in the Glee Club. Santana had picked out Artie for obvious reasons. She always did like to keep things simple. Brittany had picked out Kurt sort of on accident. She'd noticed his sexuality at first glance and told Santana who took it as a cue to label him as a target. It was fairly hypocritical since Quinn knew for a fact that Santana slept with girls as well as guys, but she didn't bring it up.

So she didn't respond with anger when Rachel sang the song to her. It was also aimed partially at Santana and Brittany, so she reasoned that the final decision wasn't really up to her anyway.

She noticed that Rachel didn't meet anyone's eye for the rest of the rehearsal, probably because she was scared of Quinn's response. Quinn almost felt bad- she'd put some of these kids through hell in order to rise to the top. It was a big reason why the Unholy Trinity had joined Glee- guilt over kicking these people down. Joining their club was hardly actual atonement for their misdemeanors, but Quinn figured that perhaps she could mend some fences through the activity. She'd actually been moderately successful, but Brittany by far had the most success.

Brittany was viewed as the most innocent of the trinity and as such was forgiven much more easily. She had even dated Artie for a short stint earlier in the year. She never stayed in any sort of relationship for very long though.

As rehearsal ended, Quinn watched Rachel practically leap out of her seat to leave the classroom as fast as possible and felt a twinge of regret. She'd have to do something about that.

* * *

"I can't believe the nerve of that little hobbit," Santana laughed as soon as the three of them got out of Glee and walked to the parking lot together. Quinn and Brittany shared a car that their mom bought for them- she may be absent, but she had no problem trying to make up for that with lavish gifts- and they drove Santana to school every day.

"She has a good voice, like a bird," Brittany commented. "Or a dolphin. I like the noises dolphins make."

"That's nice, B. But I think she needs to be knocked down a peg if she thinks she can get away with that," Santana said.

Quinn chewed on her lip, not really wanting to contribute an opinion but knowing it would look odd if she didn't. "Are you sure? I mean, I thought this year was our year to coast. We're seniors, we're at the top of the Cheerios and the school, all while being a part of the most loser-heavy club at this school. We don't need to take any action to stay on top," Quinn added her thoughts.

Santana smirked. "But it's too damn _fun_."

Quinn begged to differ. Every since last year, tearing other people down has sort of lost its appeal. She knew that Brittany didn't really care one way or another unless the person had hurt her by making fun of her or something of that nature. Santana enjoyed the thrill of the hunt, the feeling that came along with exercising her power over the feeble masses of McKinley. Quinn used to feel similarly, so she understood.

"If you really want to. But I think it might be best to sort of lay low. We do have a tendency to… draw attention to ourselves," Quinn added with a bit of a smirk of her own. It was true- they always had a captive audience.

"Fine," Santana gave in. "It was mostly aimed at you, so you get the final call. But I'm still pulling something on Artie. I overheard him calling Brittany stupid."

Quinn highly doubted it. It was much more likely that Santana had caught him looking at Brittany's ass or something like that. The Latina was quite protective of Brittany, especially when it came to Artie since she'd dated the boy.

"So we've got another couple minutes until cheer practice starts. You wanna head over early?" Brittany suggested. The other two shrugged and followed Brittany over to the field. They often times arrived first and left last when it came to practices. Being on the top had its privileges, but it also came with responsibilities, like trying to impress Coach Sylvester constantly. If Sue was happy, the Cheerios were happy- simple math.

* * *

Brittany watched Quinn closely throughout the practice. She didn't make any mistakes, true, but she also wasn't phenomenal like she usually was. Brittany wondered when the last time it was that her sister had anything to eat. Quinn's new habit of cutting back on eating was really starting to worry Brittany.

After practice ended, the three of them drove back to Brittany and Quinn's house like usual. Quinn announced that she was going to take a nap, which was just as well because Brittany really wanted to talk to Santana.

"She's not eating again," Brittany informed her close friend quietly. Santana's brow furrowed. This had happened once before- right after the incident last year.

"That's not good, and not like her. I know that she's been going out for food pretty infrequently in comparison to her usual habits ever since last year, but do you think she's been stopping altogether?" Santana questioned. This was a serious matter. Not eating could lead Quinn to have some serious physical and mental repercussions.

"Yeah. I mean, I know she hasn't in at least two days because I've been with her all day except for when I went out, and I know for a fact she stayed in," Brittany confirmed.

"Keep an eye on her. If she still hasn't had anything by tonight, I'll give her an intervention," Santana said, soothingly stroking Brittany's arm. She wondered, not for the first time, if Brittany got the message that she was trying to get across with the small gesture, the message she was always trying to give. She knew that Brittany was good at reading people, but sometimes it was easiest to miss signals from the people you were closest to.

* * *

Rachel went home after Glee rehearsal with a heavy heart. She passed right by the cheerleaders without them so much as noticing in the parking lot. Did she really blend in that much? Well, next to the three prettiest girls she's ever met, she supposed she didn't really stand out much at all. No wonder they couldn't even be bothered to pick up on her presence a lot of the time.

She couldn't shake that feeling of guilt over singing such a harsh song to Quinn. If Rachel was honest with herself, she'd have to admit that she'd been receiving far less bullying this year than she had the three previous. Maybe it was the Unholy Trinity winding down, or maybe they'd found a new focus. Either way, she wasn't going to complain. If she was even more honest with herself she'd have to confess that the only reason she had enough courage to sing that song was because the Cheerios had not been treating her as badly recently and consequently were less likely to punish her harshly for her offense.

After doing all of her homework and eating dinner, Rachel took a video of the song she'd sung in Glee today, but she wasn't really satisfied with it. It didn't have the same sort of feeling when she wasn't looking right at Quinn as she sang it. She let out a sigh and put away her video camera, resigning herself to get some sleep.

After trying- and failing- to get to sleep, Rachel decided that she could use a walk outside to clear her head. Checking the clock, she noted that it was after midnight, so her dads would already be asleep and would stay as such as long as she was quiet leaving the house. She crept downstairs and out her front door as quiet as a mouse.

* * *

Brittany had kept an eye on Quinn and she hadn't so much as left the house. Worrying her lip between her teeth, she told Santana about it who went upstairs to confront Quinn with Brittany tagging along just behind her.

"Hey, you two," Quinn greeted. She'd just been about to put on some pajamas and go to sleep since midnight was just about upon them.

"Quinn, you haven't eaten anything in the past couple days," Santana got right to the point. Quinn ceased her motions of retrieving clothes and sat down on her bed, knowing that this conversation was not going to be swept under the rug.

"So? I'm fine, clearly. Some people go longer without anything," Quinn defended. Santana's arms were crossed over her chest.

"I'm sure they do. But they aren't you, and you usually eat a healthy amount every day. Now, you've barely had anything since you broke up with Finn, which was also a dumb decision, I might add. He was willing to follow you around and give you wanted you wanted- what you _needed_," Santana responded.

Quinn stood up, taking a few steps toward her best friend. "Oh yeah? I'm getting relationship advice from the infamous whore of Mckinley?"

Brittany stepped between the two girls upon seeing Santana's snarl and Quinn's glare. She often times had to play peacemaker between the two of them. Both were so stubborn and hotheaded that they went at each other frequently, though they pretty much always made up just as quickly as they started fighting.

"Guys, calm down. We don't have to argue like this. Quinn, I was the one who told Santana I was worried about you not eating. Why don't we just go out tonight and grab something quick?" Brittany suggested. Quinn and Santana both grumbled but obliged, leaving the house to go get sustenance.

* * *

Rachel was walking through the streets of town noticing how it was really quiet after midnight in a small town like Lima. They really didn't have a night life at all, especially on a Monday night. Sure, some kids threw parties on Fridays and Saturdays, but those were in their own houses, not in the middle of town.

She liked the quiet, but it made her long for the noise of New York City. She wanted to live in the city that never slept, where there would always be a scene going on no matter where you looked or when. Lima was just such a sleepy little town when she compared it to the city of her dreams.

Rachel let out a sigh, reminding herself that she would be in New York soon after graduating. She had gotten into NYADA, after all, so it was now just a matter of counting down the days. Soon enough she'd be free of the town of nothing and the school reigned by the three terrors. Now that her mind was turned to the Cheerios, she couldn't get them out of her head. It was like that for most people, she imagined, but she liked to think that she wasn't as captivated by them as the rest of the school was. She didn't got out of her way to please them or garner attention from them as an acolyte or admirer. Well, not _so_ much as an admirer. She couldn't help but have a sort of begrudging admiration for the three of them; they were beautiful, smart, and good at singing and dancing. She may not particularly like the Unholy Trinity as people, but Rachel did like their traits on paper.

She took a turn around the corner only to see the first people she'd run into all night. There were two figures approaching a larger one- she thought it was two girls approaching a guy, but she couldn't be sure.

"What are you two lovely girls doing out here at this time of night?" the guy asked. Rachel though his words sounded slurred and she felt worried for the two girls. A guy like that while inebriated could do some awful things.

"Oh, we were just having some fun," the one girl said. Her voice sounded familiar, so Rachel edged closer, sticking to the darker shadows of the street, trying to not get noticed.

"Really? I could show you some fun," the guy said suggestively. The two girls approached him closer and Rachel was about to yell out when she felt a hands reach around her and cover her eyes and heard a silky smooth voice in her ear.

"I wouldn't interrupt them if I were you." That voice was also familiar, so very recognizable. But Rachel couldn't say her name, couldn't call out the girl whose hands blocked her eyes. She felt trapped even though she could probably get away from this girl easily. Her breath was taken away.

Rachel felt the girl lean down to nuzzle her neck. She was frozen in place, mostly out of confusion. She begged her body to move, to let this girl know she knew who she was. Actually, Rachel wondered if this girl knew who she was holding onto. Rachel had been in the shadows with her head down and hair covering her face…

Oh god, the girl was running her lips up the column of Rachel's neck. The brunette swallowed hard, trying to ignore the feeling settling beneath her stomach at the lips on her neck.

Finally, she regained her voice. "Wh-what are you doing?" Rachel whisper, voice slightly broken.

The girl stopped her ministrations immediately upon hearing Rachel's voice. She slowly raised her head and allowed Rachel to turn around.

"Rachel Berry?" she said in shock, her eyes widened with shock.

Rachel unconsciously licked her lips at the sight of the girl's parted lips, knowing what they felt like against her skin.

"What the hell are you doing, Quinn?" Rachel demanded. Quinn's pupils were blown and she looked absolutely terrified. She stared at Rachel without answering before bolting off away from Rachel and away from the other three figures, leaving Rachel rooted to her spot in the middle of Lima.

What had just happened?

**A/N: So this further sets things up, yeah? I hope I'm not confusing anyone with the POV switches. It's all third person, so technically it's not that important... but I do it anyway.**

**Just got done my spring break and now I'm back into school work and the like, but hopefully I'll still be able to update at least once a week or so. Review for feedback?**


	3. Seven Minutes In Hell

Quinn felt her heart skip a beat followed by it beating as fast as possible, almost as if it was trying to make up for the missed beat. The rush of adrenaline wasn't altogether abnormal for her, but the fact that she'd gotten it after kissing Rachel on the neck? That was certainly bizarre.

Rachel shouldn't be out at this time of night. No, she was a good kid, the kind that went to bed early, not the type that wandered the streets after midnight. She couldn't process the fact that she'd just run into Rachel, that Rachel had almost witnessed what Santana and Brittany were about to do to that man.

So Quinn ran. She ran as fast as she could away from Rachel and in the opposite direction that Santana and Brittany were taking that guy they'd found.

Quinn had been ecstatic when she'd seen a young girl with long brown hair roaming the streets at first. She was used to encountering grimy older guys like the one Santana and Brittany had cornered. The three of them saw two figures far apart from one another- the guy and the girl, and Santana told her to take the younger one, the girl. It was rather nice of her, really.

But no, she'd just found Rachel Berry on the streets and started kissing her neck before realizing it was her. There was no upside to that. And she was still hungry.

* * *

Rachel fell back against the wall of a storefront breathing heavily. What had just happened? She couldn't stop asking that. In an attempt to stop asking that question, she tried to answer it instead.

Rachel saw two girls approaching an older guy and what looked like proposition them. A girl had then come up behind her and covered her eyes and started kissing her neck. When Rachel met her eyes, it was Quinns staring back at her. Then Quinn ran off.

Okay, listing the details of the event didn't really make it make any more sense.

_I'm going crazy._

_Maybe your water has been contaminated with hallucinogenics._

_Who would do that?_

_Someone from a competing Glee Club._

_Jesse St. James?_

_It's a possibility._

_Yeah, maybe you're… No! You're being paranoid._

_I'm being paranoid? You're the one that suggested Jesse!_

_I'm just trying to understand!_

Rachel shook her head, stopping her inner arguing thoughts. She had a tendency to argue with herself. She blamed it on her lack of true friends, but maybe she was a latent schizophrenic. Oh god, there she went with the overreacting again.

She turned her gaze down the street to the other three figures. The shorter of the two girls had the guy pinned up against a wall and it appeared she was kissing him. Gross. The taller one was hovering close by but suddenly whipped her head in Rachel's direction.

"S… Quinn's gone," the taller girl spoke. The familiar voice clicked in her head with the use of Quinn's name and the moniker of S. It was Brittany and Santana. As if Rachel's night couldn't get any more confusing- it appeared the whole Unholy Trinity was out on the streets tonight.

Santana pulled back from the drunk and grimy guy. "What do you mean, gone? Did she take that little fine piece of ass inside somewhere?" Santana asked.

"Whatcha two pretty girls talkin' about?" Grimy Guy butted in, clearly feeling abandoned and left out of the loop. Rachel almost felt for him.

"No. That girl's standing there by herself staring at us," Brittany pointed to where Rachel was leaning against the wall.

"Shit," Santana cursed, voicing Rachel's thoughts. She'd just been noticed by two-thirds of the Unholy Trinity and they didn't look happy- well, they rarely did when Rachel was set in their sights until she was properly humiliated.

So Rachel did what any sensible loser would do when two of her biggest bullies noticed her in the middle of the night on a practically abandoned street- she passed out.

* * *

Santana still had fists of the random guy's shirt in her hands as she looked where Brittany was pointing to a vague figure down the street where Quinn had been just a moment ago.

"Shit," she said, feeling rather put out. She and Brittany had managed to convince Quinn to get out on the town tonight, and then they'd found her a nice girl, but then she went and ran off for reasons unknown. If it wasn't such a strange situation she would just take the girl for herself, but the girl had been watching now and Quinn hadn't taken her anywhere. She could end up being a problem.

Santana cursed Quinn internally for being such a problem. Santana and Brittany never had these sort of problems. They both ate like normal and without much incident- the occasional problem that was easily solved with some well-placed words, but that's it.

"Is that girl over there joinin' in?" the man asked eagerly. Santana let go of his shirt and shot him a disgusted glare.

"No. And you should really invest in some conditioner. And you know, like, soap," Santana sneered. The guy was blubbering some sort of nonsense about he thought they were going to have some fun, but Santana ignored him in favor of Brittany and the girl down the street.

"Brittany, do you mind fetching her for me?" Santana asked. Brittany was the faster of the two of them with those long legs of hers.

"Sure," Brittany replied brightly. She loved running and the thought of it excited her even if it was under these annoying circumstances. Santana loved that about the blonde- she often times found the positive side of things.

Just then Santana watched the unknown girl down the street fall over and hit the pavement. "Just… great."

Brittany was already halfway to the girl and Santana followed, ignoring the stuttering fool stumbling behind her. He was so drunk that he couldn't make it more than a few steps toward her. He wouldn't be a problem.

Santana walked with purpose toward the slumped body of none other than Rachel Berry. "Oh, fuck me," Santana hissed as she recognized the girl. She was Quinn's main target for reasons that Santana never quite understood. Sure, it was easy enough to make fun of her, but she mostly kept her weird to herself until she walked into the choir room and had to suffocate everyone with her amazing talent and enormous head sucking up all the oxygen.

Brittany giggled. "Okay," she replied. Santana wanted to believe that was a serious offer from the tall blonde but knew it wasn't. It couldn't be.

"We should take her back to your place. As much as I don't really want to be anywhere near the hobbit, she might have seen something and we can't have that," Santana said. Brittany nodded and crouched down to pick up the small brunette bridal style.

* * *

Brittany didn't know why Rachel was out on the streets in the middle of the night. There was a good reason why she, Santana, and Quinn were, but Rachel? It didn't make much sense. Rachel was the type of person that focused on singing and making it to Broadway, not wandering around outside after midnight. Then again, she probably didn't know that there was much to be worried about running into, Brittany thought with a smile.

She hummed idly to herself, shifting the girl in her arms. Rachel really was pretty small, probably half a foot shorter than her. And she didn't weight all that much, it seemed, but Brittany knew she was pretty strong so that may have been why she could carry the girl with a fair amount of ease.

Santana walked about a half a step in front of Brittany. She always did that. It was like she didn't want anyone else to have the lead, like she needed to be in control. Brittany knew that was one thing that came between the girl and her sister- they both liked being on top, so to speak. But Brittany? She didn't mind them taking the lead as long as they didn't make her do anything she didn't want to. Like keep her clothes on all the time. That was just annoying. When she was in her own house, she figured she had a right to walk around without clothes. It felt nice.

Brittany followed Santana into her house and laid Rachel down on their couch in the family room. "What do we do now?" Brittany asked.

Santana sighed and ran a hand through her hair like she sometimes did when she was stressed and no one who would judge her for weakness was around.

"I want to see if Quinn's here hiding up in your guys' room. Can you stay with the midget in case she wakes up?" Santana asked. Brittany nodded and Santana made her way upstairs to look for Quinn.

Brittany looked down at Rachel. She was actually kind of pretty in a different sort of way, and it made her feel bad that the small girl had been one of their victims for a couple years. She knew it was necessary, that the three of them needed to push other people down to stay on top, but she wished it wasn't that way. Santana had explained to her it was for protection, so that no one could hurt them, but it still sucked.

She trusted Santana. She knew the Latina was hot-headed and made some snap decisions that didn't always end up turning out smoothly, but she did it with the right intentions. She knew the Santana would always be there to protect her and Quinn, and that was what mattered.

* * *

Santana leaned against the doorframe of Quinn and Brittany's bedroom. "Q, nice of you to run off on us," she greeted snidely.

Quinn looked up at her with a face filled with terror that she was trying to reign in. It was obvious to Santana because she often made a similar one. She sometimes wondered if she and Quinn were actually the sisters of the three of them even though they looked nothing alike.

"Not in the mood," Quinn muttered, looking down at her lap, sitting on her bed cross-legged. Santana walked into the room and sat down next to her, knowing this could be a delicate situation in terms of Quinn's emotions.

"Look, I know that this didn't turn out quite the way you wanted-"

"This is exactly why I don't eat often!" Quinn interrupted. Santana actually backed up an inch out of shock. She'd been expecting Quinn to be subdued and moody, not explosive.

"Hey, calm your tits. Just because we'll have to do a little bit of working things out this time doesn't mean that every time we go out to eat has to end messy," Santana snapped back. She knew Quinn was all touchy right now or whatever, but she wasn't exactly one to hold back. If holding back and coddling Quinn through this was needed, she would have sent Brittany up there to deal with the girl.

Quinn shot her a fiery glare. But Santana could deal with anger- she often did in her life. The sadness, the tears? That stuff scared the shit out of her.

"This isn't just a little bit of 'working things out' like you call it. This is Rachel _fucking_ Berry," Quinn growled. Santana had to snigger at that.

"No, I think it was _you_ almost fucking Berry," Santana said as an innuendo. Quinn rolled her eyes at Santana's childishness, but the Latino just smiled a shit-eating grin.

"If I recall, you were the one that suggested that I go after the hot young girl," Quinn defended herself. Santana just shrugged.

"Yeah, from behind and far away her ass looks fine. And you know as well as I do that being with someone younger tonight was what you needed," Santana dismissed with a wave of her hand. "By the way, did you get anything from her?" she asked out of both curiosity and slight necessity. Quinn's answer could change how they dealt with this situation.

Quinn sighed. "I was trying but then she turned around and recognized me, and I recognized her, and I ran off."

Santana could see how that would be a bad thing. Like, she would probably freak out if she'd been touching the midget without realizing it was her. Plus the girl was currently unconscious downstairs on the couch. When she woke up, she'd need a damn good explanation.

This situation was different than most of the others Santana had found herself in. Usually she never needed to explain herself anyway, but when she did on that rare occasion, she could usually scare the person off. This was Rachel Berry, and she was so goddamn stubborn that Santana doubted she would except any sort of flimsy bullshit excuse.

"How do you want to handle this?" Santana asked quietly. The decision lay mostly with Quinn since she'd been the one with her when it had happened.

Quinn turned back toward Santana. "Well I guess I should probably corner her at school and give her some sort of excuse." Santana shifted uncomfortably and Quinn picked up on the movement, narrowing her eyes shrewdly. "Santana? What did you do?"

Santana raised her hands in a defensive motion. "Hey, don't blame me. You skipped out, so me and Britts saw the hobbit pass out. We weren't about to just leave her there and we don't exactly know where she lives." Quinn's eyes stayed narrowed, but she had no good comeback to that. "So it's up to you, kid. What do you want to tell her?"

Quinn let herself fall onto her back. Santana went up to her and sat on the edge of her bed. It was as close as the two of them usually got, and that let Quinn know that this really was her decision and Santana would take it seriously.

"I want to talk to her. One on one at first, I guess. I'll see how much she thinks she knows and what conclusions she's drawn from it and spin a lie out of that," Quinn decided. Santana nodded and the two of them rose from the bed.

Santana walked downstairs with Quinn and nerves in her stomach. This was a different situation than she had ever encountered, and Quinn was rarely the one to make big decisions out of the three of them when it came to things outside of school. When they were at home, Santana was usually the one making the first move on things.

The three cheerleaders looked at each other and then the sleeping form on the couch. Santana grabbed Brittany's hand and led her upstairs. This was Quinn's time now.

* * *

Quinn had to wait a few more minutes for Rachel to come to. When she finally did, she looked around groggily and met Quinn's eye with a wide-eyed stare. Quinn felt her heartbeat quicken from her nerves getting the best of her. She'd never had to deal with someone quite this way before, and considering the person she was about to have a conversation with was someone she'd personally made a target throughout high school made the whole situation a little bit more awkward.

"Where am I? How did I get here? Where are Santana and Brittany? And what were you guys _doing_?" Rachel fired out as quickly as possible. Quinn held out a hand as a gesture to tell Rachel to slow down.

"Look, I realize that all of this may seem a bit… confusing, but there really is a good explanation for it, I promise," Quinn stated calmly. She could keep her cool under pressure. No big deal, right?

Rachel was giving her the deer in the headlights look and frantically scanning the room, scouring every inch. "Explanation? _Explanation_? You three were out there looking for sex! You're prostitutes!" Rachel exclaimed.

Quinn sat back and blinked at the hysterical girl in front of her. "O…kay," she stuttered, not really expecting that response. Well, she hadn't really known what to expect at all, but it certainly wasn't this.

"Are we in your brothel? Is a pimp going to come walking down those stairs? Oh God, is Santana the pimp? I could see that happening," Rachel continued speaking at such a rapid pace that Quinn could barely understand her. If it wasn't such a dramatic situation Quinn would almost find Rachel's reaction comical. As it was, she just quirked her mouth upwards at the one side and raised an eyebrow.

"According to your scenario the three of us are prostitutes, so how could Santana be the pimp?" Quinn questioned, just playing along with Rachel's little misconception. Rachel looked- if possible- even more startled.

"So you are ladies of the night!" she cried out. Quinn rolled her eyes, wondering if Santana and Brittany were hearing this from upstairs. If so, they were probably getting a kick out of it.

Quinn tried to keep her patience. "Back to your original questions, you're at me and Brittany's house. Brittany carried you here because you passed out. She and Santana are upstairs," Quinn answered, thankful for her fairly extraordinary memory. Rachel seemed to be taking all of that in. "Oh, and this is so not a brothel. And we're not a group of whores," Quinn added thoughtfully. She may as well clear up that mess before things got out of hand. She was okay with creating a lie to protect their secret, but she would _not_ have Rachel Berry thinking she was a hooker. So not a classy cover story.

Rachel blinked a few times in rapid succession. "That was the only viable answer using the parameters of the universe I thought I lived in that I could come up with in the short amount of time that I was conscious."

How very Rachel Berry of her to say. She could have just said, "I'm out of ideas," but she chose to use thirty-three words instead of four. Quinn rolled her eyes at the absurdity of it.

"Which, I must conclude, means the universe is not as I thought. That brings us to the next set of answers, ones which I am reluctant to even voice, but are the only possibilities left," Rachel continued. Quinn opened her arms in a "bring it on" gesture, ready to hear her crazy explanations and pick whichever seemed to be the best cover story.

"You're vampires," Rachel whispered, looking terrified. Quinn wanted to deadpan a response. She wanted to stay calm throughout all of this. She was the Ice Queen, the girl in school that wouldn't break under pressure.

Okay, so Quinn laughed. She couldn't help it. That's what Rachel's brain came up with? Right from prostitutes to vampires. She honestly didn't know which was a more offensive supposition. Rachel was giving her a blank look, so Quinn quieted her laughter.

"No, we're not vampires," Quinn assuaged Rachel's fears. She was wondering where she was going to take this now. If Rachel had been so quick to accept the reality of vampires, maybe she wouldn't actually overreact to the truth of the matter. Quinn bit her lip as she thought about this.

On one hand, it would be so much easier to just tell Rachel the truth than come up with a believable lie. Plus Quinn felt like a small part of her guilty conscience would be vindicated knowing that she was able to tell Rachel the truth about herself after so long of creating lies about the other girl and torturing her.

On the other hand, there was the whole fact of her keeping the Unholy Trinity's secret safe. The three of them knew that it wasn't a good idea to let anyone know about them because it could bring down persecution or just get plain messy. And this was Rachel. Quinn didn't really know how trustworthy the girl was.

Rachel was staring at the girl, waiting for an answer. Quinn was so torn, wondering what sort of alternate universe she must have landed in that she was seriously considering spilling the beans to Rachel Berry. It should make no sense, yet she was drawn to the idea more than any other option.

It wouldn't exactly be an easy thing to explain, though.

"Rachel, I can't believe I'm even considering this…" Quinn paused to take in Rachel's suddenly eager expression. So she was naturally curious. That did nothing to alleviate Quinn's nerves. "But I think I really may have to tell you the truth."

Rachel just stared at her and Quinn wondered if she was suffering from a concussion from her fall to the blacktop. At this moment, Santana practically tumbled down the stairs followed closely by Brittany.

"Whoa there, hold on Q, the fuck you talking about?" Santana said with her unceremonious entrance. Quinn shot her a glare.

"You told me that I'd get a choice in how I handled her," Quinn reminded her best friend through gritted teeth. Brittany had taken a seat on the couch next to Rachel who edged away from the tall blonde.

"Yeah, well I didn't give you permission to go batshit cray on the situation," Santana snorted. Quinn stood face to face with Santana, giving her a challenging gaze.

"Guys, I think it might be a good idea. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of having just the three of us know. I'm not saying we should go make billboards or anything, but it might be nice to see if we can tell one person and not have the world blow up or anything," Brittany gave her input. Quinn nodded her thanks to her sister, glad to have someone on her side.

Santana stood her ground, arms crossed over her chest.

"Well, if we're voting here, then I'd-" Rachel started to say tentatively.

"This ain't a democracy, midget," Santana cut her off rudely.

Quinn sent Santana another challenging glare before turning her gaze to Rachel. "I'm a succubus, Rachel. All three of us are," she said with as much confidence as she could muster. It felt positively exhilarating to finally say out loud.

Rachel gave the three girls a bewildered look and Quinn wondered if she didn't know what a succubus was. It was a possibility. Santana was glaring daggers at her and Brittany was just smiling softly. The tension in the air was incredible.

"This is great," Santana drolled. Quinn shrugged spitefully. "And by great, I mean the exact opposite," she added unnecessarily.

"I got that bit," Quinn sighed.

All three of the Unholy Trinity turned their gaze to Rachel for her reaction. "So let me get this straight… not only are you an absolutely gorgeous eighteen year old who can sing and dance and draw and gets straight A's, but you're also some sort of… sex demon? _Literally_?" Rachel asked slowly. Quinn winced at the flood of compliments and the rather crass phrasing of her race. Sex demon sounded more like a phrase Puck would use to describe himself, not her.

"Rachel is internally freaking out and contemplating what phrase she can use as her own personal 'mailman' now," Santana said with a smirk. Rachel gave her a horrified look.

"I am most certainly not doing so!" she defended her inner non-pervert.

"I did the mailman once," Brittany inputted. Rachel threw her hands in the air in frustrated confusion. Santana laughed and Quinn lowered her head and shook it from side to side. This wasn't exactly how she'd envisioned the first time she "came out" to a human. Okay, bad phrasing, but what else were you supposed to call confessing that you're not human?

"What is going on?!" Rachel yelled with her hands still in the air. Quinn groaned at the chaos that had erupted in her living room in the past seven minutes. She was used to seven minutes in heaven- a great way to get a quick meal- but these seven minutes were something else altogether.

This was seven minutes in hell. Of course Rachel Berry would be in her version of hell. Fitting, right?

**A/N: So I considered waiting a while longer before having Rachel find out what the three are, but I'd like to get that out in the open so I can get to the more interesting parts of this story that I have planned. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Also, I want to get this out of the way right now in case it comes up: **

_*******This isn't based on Lost Girl. I've been interested in seduction demons since before Lost Girl even came out. Lost Girl did not invent the succubus. A succubus is just a plot device, just like vampires. Lost Girl holds no more claim over succubi than Twilight does over vampires._** *****

**Just saying. Next chapter has the rest of Rachel's reaction to this revelation as well as how this plays out a little more. Hope you're all having wonderful lives. Oh, one last side note; I started writing a Buffy/Faith story entitled "Liar Extraordinaire." Give it a read if you want. Peace out.**


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